Filling in the blanks of the NFL's most anonymous Super Bowl team.

After the Carolina Panthers humiliated Philadelphia last Sunday to earn a trip to Super Bowl XXXVIII, millions of casual football fans asked themselves this question: Who, or what, are the Carolina Panthers? A survey of the non-football-obsessed portion of my family, for instance, reveals that only half have, at one time or another, seen the phrase "Carolina Panthers." (Though I think this number is inflated: Jake Delhomme, the team's Cajun starting quarterback, just made the news in New Orleans by purchasing a horse.) My roommate confesses that he hasn't heard of the franchise at all.

The Panthers do, surprisingly, exist, in their special niche as the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NFL, the pro sports franchise that the nation is unashamed to admit it hasn't heard of.

So, who are they then? First of all, they have no relation to the erstwhile 1983 USFL champion Michigan Panthers, nor to the Arena Football League's Carolina Cobras, who would like to invite you to their annual Fang Fest this weekend.

But like the Cobras, these Panthers suffer from the dreaded "New England" syndrome—the appropriation of a large region to camouflage the fact that no one has any clue where they play. (Answer: Charlotte, the Carolina Panthers of U.S. municipalities.)

Indeed, the Panthers are the most-obscure team, with the fewest stars, to ever play in America's most-watched sporting event. The 1999 Tennessee Titans had Eddie George, Steve McNair, and the Music City Miracle. The 2000 Ravens featured Ray "The Justice Obstructer" Lewis. Even last year's Tampa Bay Bucs had an unmatched history of futility. Yet in just their ninth year of existence, the Panthers have, uh—well, what do they have?

Surely you remember that the Panthers spent two first-round picks and $46.5 million on Sean Gilbert, came up with the idea of (unsuccessfully) luring Joe Gibbs out of retirement, and were recommended by God to Reggie White as a good team to play for? All those magical moments, and they don't even make the cut of Sports Nut's top 10 moments in Carolina Panthers history:

1. Beat Philadelphia 14-3 to advance to Super Bowl (2004). The accomplishment is slightly tainted in that it came in the 2003 NFC, perhaps the worst conference in the storied history of professional sport.

2. Rae Carruth becomes first professional athlete to face capital murder charges during his playing career (1999). After one of his friends guns down Carruth's pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams, in a drive-by shooting, the wide receiver high-tails it out of town. He's eventually found by the FBI hiding in the trunk of a car in a motel parking lot in Tennessee. Carruth was acquitted of first-degree murder but found guilty of conspiracy and sentenced to 19 to 24 years.

3. Running back Fred Lane killed by his wife (2000). A few months after he was traded to Indianapolis, for whom he never played, Lane was shot to death in his Charlotte home by his wife, Deidra Lane. In the two years before his death, Fred Lane thrilled fans with his "Worm" end-zone dance, was arrested on drug and weapons charges, and became possibly the first NFL player to be suspended for a game for grabbing his crotch. Deidra Lane is now serving seven years and 11 months for voluntary manslaughter.

4. Reach NFC Championship game in franchise's second year (1996). Another slightly tainted accomplishment, this time because the Panthers' partners in expansion, the Jaguars, also make it to the conference championships. In their title tilt, the Panthers lose to the Green Bay Packers, 30-13.